The Last of Us 2’s director says he was “uncomfortable” writing its romantic elements, but his co-writer pushed for them

The Last of Us co-creator Neil Druckmann admits he was “more uncomfortable” writing the romantic elements of the sequel. Thankfully, co-writer Halley Gross was there to advocate for them in a big way and bring them to life. 

As part of a two-hour documentary about the making of The Last of Us 2, Druckmann speaks about bringing in another writer to shake things up as the story was becoming “epic and ambitious” and he was “stuck” on a few parts. Druckmann goes on to share that Gross challenged what the story could be right off the bat and wanted to add more “romantic intimacy between the characters.” 

“Those are areas I’ve been more uncomfortable writing,” Druckmann says. “After the first day, she was telling me that she went home and told her husband that, ‘I think I’ve just got Ellie’s girlfriend pregnant.’ Because that was her big idea on the first day, and that had this trickle-on effect and actually added a lot to the story.”

The documentary has plenty of other fun tidbits, too. The Last of Us 2 was originally going to be a Bloodborne-inspired open-world game, as Naughty Dog wanted it to be “as different as humanly possible from the first game,” though the idea didn’t quite stick. 

Druckmann also continues to leave the door open for The Last of Us Part 3, saying, “It does feel like there’s probably one more chapter to this story.”

We’ll have to wait and see what the future holds, games-wise, for The Last of Us, though progress on The Last of Us Season 2 is seemingly coming on nicely if you’re a fan of the TV show.